Expanded Polymer Systems Plans Capacity Expansion for Growing Indian PU demand

Expanded Polymer Systems aims to increase its net revenue to $160 million. Its initiatives are a direct result of the rapidly expanding polyurethane market in India and a five-pillar growth strategy that includes capacity expansion, innovation, capacity utilisation, raw material debottlenecking, and new business development.

The company’s new CEO, Mahesh Gopalasamudram, said its position as a “nimble, innovation-driven and deeply customer-intimate” supplier gives it an advantage in higher-value niches that larger commodity producers cannot easily serve. India is emerging as one of the fastest-growing PU markets, with growth of 10.2% in 2025, according to the company. It said the country’s PU industry is expected to increase from 900kT/year to 4.0MT/year by 2050.

The growth strategy of Expanded Polymer Systems involves the creation of customer-tailored formulations, renewable and bio-based products, and differentiated reactive polyols. The company stated that it is collaborating with over six strategic partners to enhance plant uptime by redistributing volumes to non-seasonal periods in order to optimise fixed-cost absorption.

Gopalasamudram said the company has doubled propylene oxide storage from 2.4MT/year to 5.0MT/year, with the additional capacity operational from April 2026, to support feedstock availability. EPSPL currently operates two production sites in Mumbai and Dahej and plans to add 35kT /year of production capacity to its existing 65kT/year over the coming 24-36 months, taking total capacity to 100kT/year.

The company stated that the Middle East's geopolitical unrest has resulted in significant supply chain disruptions and raw material cost increases of 20-100%. Nevertheless, it stated that its alternative raw material sourcing and reformulation capability have facilitated the preservation of supply continuity for long-term customers.

“This crisis has accelerated the development of a more diversified and resilient vendor base and opened new strategic customer relationships, turning adversity into a competitive advantage,” Gopalasamudram said.

The company stated that it expects demand for tailored, technically differentiated PU solutions to increase as India’s PU market matures. The company added that its market segment action plan and engagement with the Indian government on raw material policy would support its role in the next phase of India’s PU growth.

Source: Urethanes Technology